Outer membrane protein OmpW of Escherichia coli is required for resistance to phagocytosis

Eight-stranded β-barrel outer membrane proteins can confer bacterial virulence via resistance to host innate defenses. This resistance function of OmpW, which was recently identified as an eight-stranded β-barrel protein, was investigated in this study. Our results demonstrated that upregulation of OmpW correlated with increased bacterial survival during phagocytosis. Bacterial mutants harboring a deletion of ompW exhibited a significantly increased phagocytosis rate. Both observations suggest that the OmpW protein protects bacteria against host phagocytosis. In addition, expression of ompW is regulated by iron, which implies that the resistance provided by OmpW may be an important factor in iron-related infectious diseases. Furthermore, OmpW has been identified as a protective antigen that protects mice against bacterial infection and is therefore a promising target for vaccine development against infectious diseases.